Silicon Graphics, the incredible shrinking workstation maker, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to news wires.

In court papers filed today, SGI said it had been "challenged by delays in introducing new technology, a focus on more specialised markets and more intense competition from larger rivals", Reuters reports.

Chapter 11 is intended to give companies breathing space by keeping creditors at bay while they restructure. But SGI's historic business - supplying expensive workstations to movie production houses (latterly based on Intel's Itanic chip) - is under extreme pressure. The graphics may be great, but then so are Nvidia and ATI these days; and AMD and Intel server farms running Linux are so much cheaper. ®

Related stories

• SGI smacks ATI with graphics lawsuit (24 October 2006)

  https://www.theregister.com/2006/10/24/sgi_ati_lawsuit/

• SGI to emerge from bankruptcy cocoon (20 September 2006)

  https://www.theregister.com/2006/09/20/sgi_emerges/

• SGI slaps sell by date on MIPS/Irix gear (7 September 2006)

  https://www.theregister.com/2006/09/07/sgi_no_irix/

• SGI to emerge from bankruptcy cocoon in September (6 July 2006)

  https://www.theregister.com/2006/07/06/sgi_september_bank/

• SGI chief outlines roadmap out of mortuary (10 June 2006)

  https://www.theregister.com/2006/06/10/sgi_plans/

• HP grabs 90 per cent of 'industry standard' Itanic market (1 June 2006)

  https://www.theregister.com/2006/06/01/itanic_q1_gartner/

• Administrators go in at Supanet (23 May 2006)

  https://www.theregister.com/2006/05/23/supanet_administration/

• Belluzzo's Nvidia pact 'sealed SGI's fate' (13 May 2006)

  https://www.theregister.com/2006/05/13/sgi_belluzzo/

• Microsoft man's shadow over bankrupt SGI (9 May 2006)

  https://www.theregister.com/2006/05/09/sgi_chapter11_analysis/

• SGI moving to mysterious Altism line (10 March 2006)

  https://www.theregister.com/2006/03/10/sgi_plans/

• SGI kicks off new era by firing 12% of its staff (3 March 2006)

  https://www.theregister.com/2006/03/03/sgi_mclayoffs/

• SGI warns that bankruptcy might be year-end option (8 February 2006)

  https://www.theregister.com/2006/02/08/sgi_warns/

• SGI moves Bishop to avoid checkmate (1 February 2006)

  https://www.theregister.com/2006/02/01/sgi_moves_bishop/

• SGI pitches monster Linux on Itanium box (15 November 2005)

  https://www.theregister.com/2005/11/15/sgi_altix_4000/

• SGI delisted, becomes penny stock (2 November 2005)

  https://www.theregister.com/2005/11/02/sgi_penny_stock/

• SGI's code scrub not clean enough for SCO (7 October 2003)

  https://www.theregister.com/2003/10/07/sgis_code_scrub_not_clean/

• SGI renders 400 redundant (22 May 2003)

  https://www.theregister.com/2003/05/22/sgi_renders_400_redundant/